Bali Top Ten

As is traditional, this being the last day of our time in Bali, here are the top ten most memorable moments:

1 Climbing the volcano. The whole thing. The climb itself, the view, the nest of eggs, boiling themselves in the sulphur steam, the slide back down - everything.

2 The Kecak dance. Specifically the beginning of it, when the bare chested men danced in, a red flower behind their ear, chanting and writhing around the fire lanterns and in front of a rapidly setting sun.

3 My Balinese dance lesson, sweaty and excruciating as it was, it was fun and a rarely physical insight into Balinese womanhood.

4 Shut in the temple for that first ceremony, watching, awed as flowers were offered solemnly up amid a haze of sweet insence.

5 The sheer decadence of that Lur Lur massage, outside, listening to frogs and birds and ending with a deliciously private flower bath for two.

6 Sitting at the foot of the Melanting waterfall in the mountains in silence, just watching the water fall.

7 The first view of the rice terraces in the mountains, not the UNESCO ones on this occasion, but just any old stunningly beautiful rice terraces, lush and green and empty of tourists.

8 Rowing across Lake Tamblingan in a dug out canoe, in absolute silence and surrounded by mountains.

9 Swinging on a Tarzan rope high above the ground through lush jungle. Or, more accurately, the feeling of having completed the swing on a Tarzan rope high above the ground.

10 The Green School. It, and everything it stood for.

Bali, I am glad we managed to see you through the traffic. If you can, resist the tourists and the traffic and the urge to spend all day riding around on your motorbike - and stay beautiful.